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You vs. a Billionaire: An Interactive Perspective on Wealth

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Re: You vs. a Billionaire: An Interactive Perspective on Wealth

#31

Post by inanutshellus »

I saw a great representation of this several years ago. I think it was also for Bezos but might've been for Musk. It was a horizontal scrollbar with random points of various datapoints that would fit within his wealth. it went on for so long that it was spectacularly boring to zoom through.

Reminds me of the story of Mansa Musa, and how he took a trip once and it affected the economies of the areas he visited for generations. . . The influence of these guys strains the imagination.

[edit: @spencerflem posted it while I was ruminating - https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/?v=3... check it out!]

Re: You vs. a Billionaire: An Interactive Perspective on Wealth

#32

Post by RIMR »

finolex1 wrote: post #11

Most billionaires cannot extract most of their wealth without crashing the price of their remaining assets. No doubt the gulf is still great, but it's a little smaller than the raw numbers imply.

I hear this muddy defense of billionaires every time anyone tries to compare the wealth held by the working class vs. the ruling class, and it's pure BS.

A billionaire's net worth is measured in dollars. If that isn't a valid unit of measuringing their wealth, then find another way to measure it. The theoretical loss in stock price if they sell their holdings shouldn't factor in here, because it isn't universally true, and doesn't actually change the real-world value of their assets.

I too cannot liquidate my entire net worth without selling my house and car, cashing out my retirement accounts, and spending lots of fees in the process. Regardless, my net worth is still measured in the dollars those things are worth before I liquidate them, because that's how wealth is measured.

Musk spent $44B buying a website that has since plummeted in value, and his net worth has only skyrocketed since. It seems like wealth for billionaires does indeed work differently than wealth for the rest of us, and it is fact MORE forgiving for billionaires than it is for us.

Re: You vs. a Billionaire: An Interactive Perspective on Wealth

#33

Post by spencerflem »

avalys wrote: post #24

That's cute, but these measures of "wealth" are misleading in a subtle way. The way articles like this and most popular media portrays it, people like Jeff Bezos are wealthy because they are hoarding money that they somehow extracted from the productive economy and diverted to their use by nefarious means. Like fairy tale dragons perched on their pile of gold and treasure at the top of a mountain, lording it over the…

Its not theoretical, and they can borrow cash against their hoard and spend it on things.

Re: You vs. a Billionaire: An Interactive Perspective on Wealth

#34

Post by nsxwolf »

finolex1 wrote: post #11

Most billionaires cannot extract most of their wealth without crashing the price of their remaining assets. No doubt the gulf is still great, but it's a little smaller than the raw numbers imply.

They want Bezos to be forced to sell off his assets and give the money over for government use. Sell it to who, though? Where did they get the money to buy it and why are they allowed to have that money in the first place? Why not just find out who wants to buy Bezos's assets, then take their money instead?

Re: You vs. a Billionaire: An Interactive Perspective on Wealth

#35

Post by grajaganDev »

iandanforth wrote: post #25
grajaganDev wrote: post #9

LA fires destroyed 17000 houses. Roughly average value: $3 million each. That is $51 billion by my calculation. Musk is worth $400 billion.

$430B according to Forbes real time billionaires list. Nitpicky? Yes. But it's $30 billion dollars.

Thank you - your correction furthers my point.

Re: You vs. a Billionaire: An Interactive Perspective on Wealth

#36

Post by avalys »

spencerflem wrote: post #33
avalys wrote: post #24

That's cute, but these measures of "wealth" are misleading in a subtle way. The way articles like this and most popular media portrays it, people like Jeff Bezos are wealthy because they are hoarding money that they somehow extracted from the productive economy and diverted to their use by nefarious means. Like fairy tale dragons perched on their pile of gold and treasure at the top of a mountain, lording it over the…

Its not theoretical, and they can borrow cash against their hoard and spend it on things.

So what?

Re: You vs. a Billionaire: An Interactive Perspective on Wealth

#37

Post by inanutshellus »

nsxwolf wrote: post #22
spencerflem wrote: post #4

I find this visualization of wealth where every dollar is a pixel a lot more compelling: https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/?v=3

This one is rather preachy. It is unintentionally arguing the existence of Amazon itself is bad and that everyone would be better off without it, including all the people it employs and serves, directly and indirectly.

I see only demonstrated difference between exactly how wealthy one single man is versus things you also can't imagine but we can understand their relative size.

How many mouths Amazon feeds is not on-topic. Imagine that he got his wealth by magic. Poof. He has it. The data would still be the same.

His wealth, as of 2021, is literally unimaginable the same way that counting the number of stars in the universe is.

Wow. It's just... so... overwhelmingly wealthy. Amazingly, spectacularly, unfathomably wealthy.

Re: You vs. a Billionaire: An Interactive Perspective on Wealth

#38

Post by manzu »

RIMR wrote: post #32
finolex1 wrote: post #11

Most billionaires cannot extract most of their wealth without crashing the price of their remaining assets. No doubt the gulf is still great, but it's a little smaller than the raw numbers imply.

I hear this muddy defense of billionaires every time anyone tries to compare the wealth held by the working class vs. the ruling class, and it's pure BS. A billionaire's net worth is measured in dollars. If that isn't a valid unit of measuringing their wealth, then find another way to measure it. The theoretical loss in stock price if they sell their holdings shouldn't factor in here, because it isn't universally tru…

you fail to see that their net worth is dependent on everybody else’s actions: if the combined shareholders of their companies start selling for whatever reason, what happens to musk’s net worth? the only way that rich people are rich is because other people want to get rich on their succes and that’s why they buy in. regardless of the real value produced, net worth is much like influencer reach.

Re: You vs. a Billionaire: An Interactive Perspective on Wealth

#39

Post by WolfeReader »

nsxwolf wrote: post #22
spencerflem wrote: post #4

I find this visualization of wealth where every dollar is a pixel a lot more compelling: https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/?v=3

This one is rather preachy. It is unintentionally arguing the existence of Amazon itself is bad and that everyone would be better off without it, including all the people it employs and serves, directly and indirectly.

As it should.

Re: You vs. a Billionaire: An Interactive Perspective on Wealth

#40

Post by pcthrowaway »

nsxwolf wrote: post #22
spencerflem wrote: post #4

I find this visualization of wealth where every dollar is a pixel a lot more compelling: https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/?v=3

This one is rather preachy. It is unintentionally arguing the existence of Amazon itself is bad and that everyone would be better off without it, including all the people it employs and serves, directly and indirectly.

Where does it argue against the existence of Amazon. Not that I disagree with it, but it doesn't even do that.

It is however, out of date. At the time of creation, the 400 richest people in the world owned $3.2T of wealth, now you only need to take the top 23 richest people to amass $3.2T of wealth.

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